LOS ANGELES -- Clay Helton, whose first season as head coach of No. 20 USC begins against No. 1 Alabama on Saturday night at AT&T Stadium (8 p.m. ET, ABC), is replacing more than just a coach. He is replacing an era.When Pat Haden, the former Trojans athletic director, took interim off of Heltons title last November, USC formally stopped trying to extend Pete Carrolls nine-year tenure of glitz and glamour.USC is not Hollywood, Helton said.Wait just a minute, Coach. Or should we say Cut!?John Wayne played for USC, for heavens sake. Frank Gifford and O.J. Simpson glided through the Trojans line and into TV careers. During Carrolls wildly successful tenure -- two national championships, three Heisman Trophy winners, seven conference championships and 28 All-Americans -- USC became Reggie Bush and Kim Kardashian. Matt Leinart and Lindsay Lohan. Snoop Dogg and Will Ferrell on the sideline.Thats exactly who the new head coach of USC isnt. Carroll, the bling coach, is gone. His successors, Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian, melted in front of TMZs lights. They proved ill-equipped to handle the pressures of trying to win with their hands tied by NCAA probation. The devastating penalties took away 30 scholarships over three seasons and resulted in USC being stripped of two Pac-12 titles and Bushs Heisman.The probation is over, too, and there is a sense of a fresh start at USC. Sarks replacement, Helton, hunts alligators. Hes courtly and self-deprecating, two traits that every Southern parent demands. His mantra is faith, family and football, and those items are not just in alphabetical order. And the only Kim hanging around the Trojans these days is Heltons father. Kim Helton was the head coach of the Houston Cougars for seven seasons and spent 12 as an NFL assistant.To repeat, USC is not Hollywood, at least in the mind of its new head coach.When you think of the names Marcus Allen and Ronnie Lott, Marv Goux, a legendary [assistant] coach here, you just think of toughness and physicality, Clay Helton said. Those are the things that have won championship after championship here.The image of Carrolls teams was of a regular lunchpail crew, if you buy your lunchpails at Prada.It is customary in college football to hire a new coach who is the opposite of the old, failed predecessor. A disciplinarian follows a players coach. A defensive guru takes over from a guy who kept all the talent on offense.So, ditch the limo; cue the Ford F-150. Lets all pretend that USC has left La La Land (meaning Tinseltown, not the new Emma Stone-Ryan Gosling romantic comedy).Take the new discipline inside the Trojans locker room. Before Helton took over, if a player skipped a class, he got two hours of physical drills. Now, if a player skips a class, his whole position group gets the extra work.You had guys who would book it in their weekly schedule, their two-hour punishment, quarterback Max Browne said. They may miss class, and on Friday afternoon, I might die for those two hours, but Ill be able to sleep through a class for the rest of the way. Its one thing if you miss a class, you get punished yourself and only yourself. But when your teammates are also getting punished? Thats a whole other element.Take the feeling of family. Clay hired his brother, Tyson, to coordinate the Trojans passing game. You can cry nepotism, at least until you see that for the last two seasons, he ran the Western Kentucky offense in which Brandon Doughty threw for 9,885 yards and 97 touchdowns.Tyson Helton brought offensive line coach Neil Callaway with him. Callaway was on the Auburn staff when Clay Helton signed there as a quarterback in 1990. Callaway spent four seasons as Kim Heltons offensive coordinator at Houston. Kim Helton spent five seasons as Callaways offensive coordinator at UAB.Callaway started for Bear Bryant on the Alabama team that beat USC in 1977. He spent more than two decades as an assistant at Auburn, Georgia and Alabama before he went to UAB. Callaway has a voice thats part syrup, part metal grinder. Actually, he just grinds up players.He brings us Southern hospitality, Southern gentlemanship and very much a Southern toughness, Clay Helton said. I just knew that experience, that knowledge, that toughness and physicality was something that I really wanted for our culture.Helton warned his offensive line.I said, Guys, just understand, Helton said. Youre going to think this guy is literally the devil. But after a month youre going to love him, because youre gonna know hes going to make you better as a player.After three sessions of spring practice, offensive tackle Zach Banner cornered Helton in the locker room and said, Coach, know this. Were taking Coach Callaway out to dinner and youre never going to see him again because were going to kill him.We got a good bunch of guys, Callaway said of his players. I dont mean theyre all angels. I aint saying that. But all the kids are into ball. Its important to them.There aint been a whole lot of Trojans assistant coaches saying aint lately.Take the way that Helton and his staff are coaching. The players understand why theyre so tough.He loves us, you know what Im saying? Toa Lobendahn said of Helton. A big thing in life for me is giving out love. I feel hes a big proponent of that. The way he treats us and respects us and even coaches us, thats the way we want it to be.The only time Ive ever seen him get [upset] is if weve done something outside of football -- if weve left our dining area dirty and [the custodial staff] had to clean up for us and he had to hear about it, or we left our players lounge dirty.Hes probably the most genuine guy Ive ever met, not even just [in] football but outside of it, Browne said of Helton.All of which shows how Helton is wrong. USC is still Hollywood, but under Helton, its rated G. Frank Capra would have loved him.Helton was practically born in a college football stadium. Kim was a graduate assistant at Florida in 1972, the year Clay was born.Heck, the first year of my life were living in the Swamp, Helton said. Were living in the dorms right at the stadium. I grew up in the profession.As a quarterback at Auburn and then for his dad at Houston, Helton proved he would be a better coach than player. As soon as he graduated, Duke head coach Fred Goldsmith, an old colleague of Kim, made Clay a graduate assistant. A year later, at age 23, Helton became the Blue Devils running backs coach. He went into the family business. The construction business lost a hardhat.I think my mom is still mad at me, Helton said. I was nine hours short of a mechanical engineering degree. I had enough hours to get an interdisciplinary math and science degree.Helton spent 10 seasons as an offensive assistant coach at Memphis, rising to the job of offensive coordinator. He coached All-America running back DeAngelo Williams. And in his last season, 2009, as the Tigers plummeted to a 2-10 record that cost head coach Tommy West and his staff their jobs, Helton made an impression.When Memphis lost to Tennessee and first-year head coach Lane Kiffin, 56-28, the Tigers rushed for 210 yards and threw for 193. After the season, Monte Kiffin, the Vols defensive coordinator and Lanes dad, called Helton.He said, Clay, yall did the best job against us. Do you mind taking me through what you saw? Were going to play Virginia Tech [in the Chick-fil-A Bowl]. I feel like theyre going to do some of the things that you did. What did you see? So we ended up talking for a couple of hours, Helton said.Helton left Memphis and landed at Arkansas State. Weeks later -- so soon after the move that Helton was still sleeping on the floor of his new Jonesboro office -- Monte Kiffin called again. Lane had gone to USC and he needed a quarterback coach. Helton agreed to interview after signing day.Not thinking that I have a chance in hell, he said, laughing. Got through signing day, came out here, and something just clicked. ... Probably some guys said no, and youre the one left standing. Something clicked. Like I told everybody, I felt like I won the lottery coming out here.Helton weathered the storms of coaching under Kiffin and Sarkisian. When interim head coach Ed Orgeron refused to coach the Trojans in the 2013 Las Vegas Bowl, Helton took over. And when USC fired Sarkisian after five games last season, Helton took over again. The Trojans went 5-2 over the rest of the regular season, and the day after they beat crosstown rival UCLA to clinch the Pac-12 South championship, Helton lost his interim status.If you want to see people who think they won the lottery, watch the video of the teams reaction when Haden told the USC players their new coach would be their current coach. It looks like every World Series celebration youve ever seen, minus the champagne.With all of Heltons new responsibilities, Browne said his head coach hasnt changed one bit. The feeling around the team, though, changed a lot.Less on edge, I guess, Browne said. Just to be going out and playing a game, playing football, I think it was nice to just kind of move on from all that. It just seemed more free, and I dont want to say that because it makes it sound like it was unstructured. It wasnt unstructured. But it seemed like guys were just going out there and having fun.If there is to be a Clay Helton era at USC, the lights, camera and action begin Saturday night. USC football is still Hollywood. Theres just a new guy in charge of the studio. Dirk Nowitzki Jersey . Emery skated the length of the ice and fought an unwilling Holtby during the third period of the Flyers 7-0 loss Friday night in Philadelphia. He was given 29 penalty minutes, including a game misconduct. But Emery did not face even a disciplinary hearing with NHL senior vice president of player safety Brendan Shanahan because rules 46. Jose Juan Barea Jersey . He says so-called TRT is only one problem and he wants to go even further than the ban. "Its about time," St-Pierre told reporters at a promotional event in Montreal on Friday. "I think its a good thing. http://www.mavericksteamofficial.info/dirk-nowitzki-mavericks-jersey/ . According to a report from the Winnipeg Free Press, the Bombers will name Acting GM Kyle Walters to the post full time. Dallas Mavericks Jerseys . Haas said he "felt a lot of pain" in his right shoulder when he slammed his racket to the ground in frustration after losing his serve at 3-3 in the first set. Luka Doncic Jersey . What general manager Dave Nonis called "short and productive" negotiations ended with Kessel signing a US$64-million, eight-year contract on Tuesday. ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- For a guy who didnt get away during the bye week, Aqib Talib was sure in a good mood Monday.He sang. He danced. He crowed.Following his first practice since Oct. 28, Talib said his balky back was feeling great, the cortisone shot and all that rest and rehab doing wonders for his mobility and his mood.Hey, yall better come get this, Talib hollered at a group of reporters gathered around running back Kapri Bibbs on the other side of the locker room.Hey Kapri! Kill your (stuff). Im talking, Talib said. Ive got announcements to make. Lets talk.And that big proclamation was ...Im back, baby!So, clearly Talib is feeling better as the Denver Broncos (7-3) prepare for a Sunday night showdown against the Kansas City Chiefs (7-3).Talib, who missed two games, said hes confident he can finish out the season without any more back problems.I feel great, like Im going to finish great, even better, Talib said. I got a three-week break so my legs feel extra fresh and I just feel like super fresh right now.Talib stuck around Denver during the break to get treatment and work on his conditioning alongside defensive end Derek Wolfe , who missed the last game with a hairline fracture in his right elbow.Both were full participants in practice Monday along with rookie fullback Andy Janovich, who ditched his cast for the first time since breaking his right hand in a game against Houston on Oct. 24.Itll give us (more options) because obviously the last few weeks Ive been pretty limited in what I can do so weve been using a lot more tight ends, Janovich said. So, itll get me back in the game. Its just one more personnel (grouping) for them to think about.The Super Bowl champs are remarkably healthy heading into a daunting homestretch that includes four AFC West games and a visit from the rival New England Patriots.Its always good when we get in that huddle, man, and you see everybody, all the guys, Talib said. So, itll be good. Were well-rested, we should come out and play real good.The only players who missed Mondays practice were wide receeiver Emmanuel Sanders, whose wife was preparing to give birth, and center Matt Paradis, who is dealing with a sore hip and has been held out of practice for much of this month.ddddddddddddInside linebacker Brandon Marshall said his sore hamstring was feeling a lot better after the bye.I think were poised for a nice run, Marshall said. Were all well-rested and ready to go, man.Indeed, the locker room had a post-victory vibe.Its always a good vibe. Were not 3-7. Were 7-3, Talib said. So, why wouldnt the vibe be good in here? You hear me? No. 1 pass D. Theres no reason for it not to be a good vibe.Although less animated, fellow cornerback Chris Harris Jr. was just as excited about Talibs return.Oh man, it just makes my job a lot easier, said Harris, who can go back to playing the slot now. Just being able to have a guy out there that knows whats going on and has that communication thats always on point. It just makes it to where I dont really have to talk to everybody all game.And I think everybody feels fresh, ready to roll, Harris said. We just know this is our time when weve got to turn it up another notch. This is a time where a lot of teams fall off.Game notes The Broncos re-signed former Ravens WR/returner Marlon Brown, whom coach Gary Kubiak had pledged to bring back when he waived the fourth-year pro on Aug. 4 because of a bad back. To make room, they waived corner back Taurean Nixon. ... With a dozen missed extra points in Week 11, Marshall said he likes the rule that moved the PATs back to 33 yards. Its not so automatic anymore, he said. I think that theyve got to work for it. The line has to work harder because the D-line is working harder because we know we can get a block. I think its a good rule change. I think its good for the game.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton ' ' '